The present invention is directed to a cart wherein both the length and width can be readily modified to fit a wide variety of loads.
Each year manufacturers are producing a widening variety of products which are designed to be carried to various events or work. Such products include ice chests, cages for carrying animals to dog and cat shows and the like. Each year the available sizes and shapes of such products also increases. For example, ice chests which originally were fairly small containers are ever increasing in size to handle larger loads. Such chests must often be transported to sporting events, the beach or other locations that are significantly removed from the area wherein transportation can be parked. Consequently, these chests and similar products must be carried a significant distance, often over soft ground, loose dirt or sand.
While the number of these products have been steadily increasing, the number of persons who suffer from some form of injury that hinders their ability to carry objects, usually a back injury, have also been increasing. As the products get larger, many people simply cannot carry them for any great distance and those suffering from injury can carry them for virtually no distance. Consequently, it is desirable to have a cart which can be easily modified to fit various shaped products to transport the products from vehicles or the like to the site where the products will be utilized. Likewise, it is useful around home or office to have a cart that can be easily adapted to different size loads to carry loads such as trash receptacles to the curbing, fireplace logs, boxes from one location to another or the like.
While a single large cart might serve all of these purposes and be usable for the function of carrying many objects, such carts are often not acceptable because they are fairly bulky and take up a great deal of space and may weigh too much for the average person to load into a vehicle. Consequently, it is desirable to have a cart which is lightweight and readily modified to various size loads and which can be likewise quickly collapsed to a relatively small profile for storing or carrying next to other objects in a vehicle or the like. Furthermore, it is desirable that the cart be light weight and have relatively wide wheels to allow the cart to be utilized over soft or muddy ground or sand as well as stability when turning.